Press Release PONY League
WASHINGTON, Pa. – The World will be watching Washington, Pennsylvania for the 2015 DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series August 7-12. Three significant partnerships to deliver global multi-platform media access were announced by World Series Tournaments, Inc.
WSTI has added World Series Game #5 to the Pittsburgh CW television broadcast schedule. Asia-Pacific Zone champion Chinese Taipei will take on the winner of Game 1 (US South Zone/Mayaguez, PR) Saturday, Aug. 8 at 5:30 p.m. The World Series Championship game, Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7:30 pm will be carried by The CW for the second straight year.
An agreement has also been reached between World Series Tournaments, Inc. and Pikewood Sports to produce and distribute all 19 World Series games to the world through live web streams. Pikewood Sports is a division of Pikewood Creative and West Virginia Radio Corporation, a management, marketing and media firm serving the sports industry. West Virginia Radio Corporation operates 32 radio properties throughout the state. West Virginia Radio Corporation was recognized as one of the top radio companies in America.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with PONY Baseball and Softball and World Series Tournament, Inc. to bring youth baseball to the world. Sports programming has played a big role in our company’s culture and we are excited to have a role with the PONY League World Series.” said Dale Miller, President of Pikewood Sports/WVRC.
For the first time, the entire 19-game video stream package will be available and powered by MLB.com’s industry leading live streaming technology through a partnership with Major League Baseball. All games will be accessible across MLB.com’s online and mobile platforms.
“Major League Baseball is delighted to partner with the DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series, a significant platform for youth baseball and softball,” said Rob Manfred, Commissioner of Major League Baseball. “Our game’s vitality and growth revolve around reaching kids, making our sport accessible to them and welcoming all players and fans. Major League Baseball greatly appreciates PONY League’s role in inspiring the interest of children and is proud to lend its support to this year’s event.”
Abe Key, President of PONY Baseball and Softball, Inc. commented, “PONY is very proud of our association with DICK’S Sporting Goods and Major League Baseball. This opportunity for the Pony League World Series is a home run for PONY, Washington County and baseball fans throughout the world.”
The live video stream will include the WJPA Radio play-by-play broadcast. For more than 60 years, WJPA-AM (1450) has carried World Series action live from the Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington Park. Mark Uriah, the “Voice of the World Series” for more than 30 years, will be joined by Lanny Frattare for the play-by-play descriptions of the action. Audio-only links will also be available. KDKA-TV Morning News Anchor Rick Dayton will join Frattare for the The CW game broadcasts Saturday and Wednesday.
“We are very excited to partner with Major League Baseball and MLB.com to provide multiplatform media distribution to focus the world’s attention on the DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY League World Series and Washington County,” stated Jeff Kotula, President of Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency.
In addition, iScore live scoring, a scoreboard page with box scores and game stories written by the Observer-Reporter sports team, live tweets from the World Series Twitter account and Observer-Reporter sports writers will be offered.
Larry Maggi, Chairman of the Washington County Board of Commissioners noted, “For the past several years, we’ve worked with the PONY League World Series and the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency to focus attention and resources to improve this valuable tourism asset for Washington County. The PONY League World Series brings thousands of visitors and millions of tourism dollars to Washington County each year and we want to continue our investment in making the experience of the World Series world class.”
“When you combine today’s announcements with the DICK’S Sporting Goods partnership announced last month, there are plenty of reasons to be excited for this year’s World Series and beyond,” said Bob Gregg, President, World Series Tournament, Inc.